Bars, clubs and late-night music venues are spaces of fun and freedom, but can also be dominated by fear. A 2017 survey conducted by YouGov revealed that 63% of women and 26% of men aged 18–24 reported having been sexually harassed on a night out. Founded in 2014, the Good Night Out campaign tackles the problem with the idea that when staff, security and bystanders in these spaces know how to manage unacceptable behaviour, it will happen less. Through comprehensive and flexible training sessions with venue owners, staff and promoters, they assist venues to curate an 'accountable' environment within their space, where perpetrators are held responsible for their actions, rather than victims feeling ashamed or blamed for what happens to them.

Good Night Out participants collaborate to form a 'best-practice' policy: an action plan to work specifically for their venue. As well as conversations about what constitutes sexual misconduct more generally, the sessions involve examining real-life examples of past incidents. Participants are encouraged to discuss exactly how they would deal with these specific incidents, and to 'test-drive' their policy. 'Every single space is completely different,' says Jess Poyner, Training Programmes Coordinator at Good Night Out. 'Do they have security, or door staff? Is there a quiet space nearby that they can use? Are there areas within their venue that they need to keep more of an eye on? It's important to think it through.'

Staff trained at Ballie Ballerson, London

What makes the Good Night Out training unique is their 'whole team' approach, which equips every member of staff with the tools that they need. 'These sessions are designed to work together with venues, rather than act as an outside pressure group,' Poyner explains, describing how this approach to training recognises the courage that it might take for someone to report an instance of sexual violence. 'We try and really encourage participants to not just pass on complaints to someone else immediately, whether it's a manager or whether there's a woman there who's always laboured with having to deal with incidents when they come up.'

Participants are also encouraged to think about how different facets of identity can affect harassment. 'We look at how LGBTQ+ people might be persecuted in spaces, and we talk about how racism and disability can affect people's feelings around whether they're going to be believed or not, and how different people's prejudices can impact whether they believe them. These people do exist and they will be coming to your spaces, so let's make them feel as comfortable as possible in them, or else they're not going to come back.'

Since their inception, the Good Night Out mission has been spreading across venues in London and beyond, with partnerships popping up in Bristol and Leeds, often partnering with local sexual violence organisations and charities, supporting them and building recognition of why they are important. But Poyner explains that they aim to reach further, in what she hopes is a wider cultural shift in attitudes towards sexual harassment. 'We don't want perpetrators to think that it's okay to act like this in those spaces because they'll just carry on doing that in other spaces as well. And if enough venues say "actually, that's not okay, we don't tolerate that", then people will get the message.'

Find out more at goodnightoutcampaign.org